State v. Morris
| Decision Date | 12 March 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 92-K-3151,92-K-3151 |
| Citation | 615 So.2d 327 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana v. Jimmy MORRIS. |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
Application granted.
The court of appeal reversed relator's conviction of DWI, third offense, based on the absence of evidence that relator knowingly waived his right to a jury trial. 1
Nevertheless, the court of appeal erred in pretermitting relator's contention that the evidence was insufficient to prove the validity of the earlier convictions, which is an essential element of the charged crime. If relator prevails on these assignments of error, he is entitled to reduction of the grade of the charged offense and cannot be retried for the more serious crime. State v. Johnson, 541 So.2d 818 (La.1989).
Accordingly, the judgment of the court of appeal is set aside insofar as the judgment pretermitted a ruling on the sufficiency of the evidence. The case is remanded to the court of appeal to review the sufficiency of the evidence of the earlier convictions. If one or more of the earlier convictions was not proved beyond a reasonable doubt, the court of appeal should discharge relator accordingly and order retrial only on the lesser grade of the charged offense.
1 The state has not sought review of this decision, and we therefore do not consider whether the appellate court's treating the jury waiver issue as an error patent was appropriate in the absence of an assignment of error or argument by relator. Cf. State v. Skipper, 387 So.2d 592 (La.1980).
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State v. Dorsey
...Court has held that an appellate court's failure to address the sufficiency of the evidence, when raised, is error. See State v. Morris , 615 So.2d 327, 328 (La. 1993) (observing that "the court of appeal erred in pretermitting relator's contention that the evidence was insufficient to prov......
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State v. Robinson
...appellate court fails to address the sufficiency of the evidence when raised, then this constitutes error. Id. (citing State v. Morris , 615 So.2d 327, 328 (La. 1993) ). Accordingly, we review Defendant's claim regarding the sufficiency of the evidence first.A. Standard of Review An appella......
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30,282 La.App. 2 Cir. 1/21/98, State v. Arnold
...supreme court, an appellate court must decide the issue of sufficiency even when reversing a conviction on the waiver issue. State v. Morris, 615 So.2d 327 (La.1993). Second degree murder, under La. R.S. 14:30.1(A)(1), is defined as the killing of a human being when the offender has a speci......
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State v. Ray
... ... State v. Zeringue, 03697 (La.App. 5 Cir. 11/25/03), 862 So.2d 186, writ denied, 033523 (La.4/23/04), 870 So.2d 298 ; State v. Morris, 607 So.2d 1000 (La.App. 3 Cir.1992), rev'd on other grounds, 615 So.2d 327 (La.1993). See also State v. Pierre, 022665 (La.3/28/03), 842 So.2d 321.In addition to the defendant's trial counsel's representation that she had informed the defendant about his constitutional rights, the defendant signed ... ...